Joseph i-i



(No Model.)

J. H. LEIGHTNER. STREET GAR'FENDER.

No; 560,270. Patented May 19, 1896.

FIG-.2.

IZZ'Gulxxxxxxxx xx NiT n STATES i ATENT OFFIC JOSEPH I-I. LEIGHTNER, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN C. OTIS, OF SAME PLACE.

STREET-CAR FENDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 560,270, dated. May 19, 1896.

Application filed November 8, 1895. Serial No. 568,251. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH II. LEIGHTNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Street-Car Fenders; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, reference being had to the annexed drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention comprises an automatic fender or guard which swings freely across the front end of a street-car and slightly in advance of and below the level of the platform thereof, the fender being suspended in such a way as to cause its advancing or effective edge to be normally a slight distance above the rails, say about four inches; but the very instant the fender comes in contact with any material obstruction this advancingedgeis momentarily depressed until it almost touches the rails, and then, as the momentum of the car causes said obstruction to ride up the fender and be carried rearward, the center of gravity of the guard changes and it at once swings to a new position. In this new position the advancing edge of the fender is considerably elevated; but its rear portion is correspondingly lowered, the result being that the guard now affords a secure receptacle within which the obstruction is retained until intentionally removed. These various automatic operations are effected by constructing and arranging the fender in a special manner, the details of which are hereinafter more fully described, and then pointed out in the claims.

In the annexed drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of the main frame of my automatic fender or guard. Fig. 2 is a similar view of a wire net or screen to be applied to said frame. Fig. 3 is side elevation of the front portion of a street-car to which my fender is applied, the fender being shown in its normal position. Fig. 4 is a similar elevation, but showing the position said fender assumes while carrying an obstruction. Fig. 5

is an enlarged section of a modified form of the fender-frame.

In carrying out my invention I prefer to use a light but rigid frame, of substantially the shape seen in Fig. 1, wherein A represents a rod that may be perfectly straight from end to end, or it may be bowed upwardly in the center to clear any arch of the pavement between the tracks of a streetrailway. The opposite ends of this rod are bent back at right angles, as at a a, and then curved upward and forward at B B, the front ends of these curves being formed into eyes b b to engage with a horizontal shaft 0. WVelded or otherwise rigidly attached to the curves B B are slotted shackles D D, whose duty will presently appear.

Arranged parallel with the end a of the fender-frame is a bar E, having its front end attached to the rod A, while its rear portion is bent at e and provided with an eye 6.

F is another rod, parallel to the one a and provided with a bend f and eye f. more these bends e f are similar to the curves B B, and the eyes 6 f engage with the shaft O, the latter being provided with nuts 0 c, that bear against the eyes I) Z).

G is a stiffening-rod secured upon the frame,

which may have any desired number of braces similar to E and F attached to it; but usually two or three of them will be sufficient for all ordinary widths of street-cars.

H in Fig. 2 is a flexible screen or mat, 8o

usually made of heavy wire-cloth, and so shaped as to fit snugly within the above-described frame, to which it can be secured in any convenient manner.

I is the front platform of a street-car, and

J is one of a pair of hangers attached to said platform and serving to carry the shaft C. These hangers are so arranged as to cause the shaft O to be somewhat in advance of said platform and slightly below the level thereof,

the hangers being passed through the slots of the shackles D D.

K is an ordinary street-railway track. From' the above description it is evident that when the screen H is properly secured 5 within the frame of the fender a scoop-shaped receptacle is formed, of which the advancing or effective edge A is normally in close proximity to the rail K. This normal position of the fender is due to the fact that its center of I00 gravity is now in front of the shaft 0, and the fender will remain in this position until it comes in contact with some material obstruction-such, for example, as a human be Further- 7o ing. As soon as this contact takes place the front edge of the fender is momentarily de pressed a limited distance, as indicated by the dotted line X in Fig. 3, the depression beyond a certain given point being prevented by the lower ends of the slots in the shackles D D striking against the hangers J. This prompt and positive arrest of the downward swing of the front edge of the fender prevents the latter being jammed into the ground and knocked to pieces by the rapidly-advancing car. Again, this momentarily downward swing of the fender prevents any large opening between it and the roadway, and therefore there is no danger of a persons limbs being caught under the front bar A. Hence as the fender at the moment of contact is not inclined at a very steep pitch it is evident the momentum of the car will cause the obstruction to readily ride up said incline and finally be deposited within the rear or curved body of the guard, as indicated by the dotted line Y in Fig. i. This act causes another change of the center of gravity of the fender, the result of which is to elevate the front edge thereof and thus prevent accidental dislodgment of the obstruction. Therefore the person caught up is safely retained within the rear portion of the fender until the car is stopped and an opportunity afforded for depressing the front of the fender and liberating him. It is evident, however, that some means must be provided to arrest the loaded fender in such a position as to prevent the curved back of the device swinging down so far as to strike the track, which mishap is guarded against by the upper ends of the slots of theshackles D D coming in contact with the hangers J.

In the modification of my invention seen in Fig. 5 the frame A is made of gas-pipe, so as to combine strength and lightness, and rollers L are journaled upon the front bar of the fender, which rollers are somewhat less in diameter than the knuckle E of one of the braces. By this arrangement said knuckles prevent the wire screen resting directly upon the rollers, the position of the screen being indicated by the dotted line it. Finally, my fender may be made of a single sheet of metal bent to the form of the screen seen in Fig. 2 and having its effective surface so padded or cushioned as not to injure any person caught up by it, this plate-fender, like the skeleton one, being unaffected by any vertical vibrations of the ear and therefore always ready to act automatically.

I claim as my invention- 1. An automatic scoopshaped car fender or guard suspended wholly from an elevated support and provided with rigid longitudinally-slotted shackles, in combination with fixed hangers that traverse said slots, for the purpose described.

2. An automatic scoopshaped ear fender or guard eonsistin of the frame A a a 13 B, suspended wholly from an elevated shaft C; slotted shackles D, D, projecting rigidly from the upper portion of said frame, and fixed hangers as J, that traverse the slots of said shackles and support said shaft, for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH II. LEIGIITNER.

\Vitnesses:

.TAMns II. LAYMAN, ARTHUR MOORE. 

